Method for selecting program and apparatus thereof

ABSTRACT

A program selection method and a display apparatus thereof are provided. The program selection method includes generating a program list including at least one program title, determining whether there is a voice input for a program selection; searching for a desired program title corresponding to the voice input for the program selection among the at least one program title in the program list, and selecting a program corresponding to the desired program title based on the searching for the desired program title.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/212,358 filed on Sep. 17, 2008, which claim priority from KoreanPatent Application No. 10-2008-0053658, filed on Jun. 9, 2008 in theKorean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein in their entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Methods and apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate toprogram selection, and more particularly to a program using a voiceinput.

2. Description of the Related Art

Digital broadcast types include a digital satellite broadcast, a digitalcable broadcast, a digital terrestrial broadcast, etc. A digitalbroadcast receiving apparatus such as a set top box (STB) receives aMoving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) transport stream (TS) which includesa digital broadcast signal, retrieves a video signal and an audio signalfrom the MPEG TS, sends the retrieved video and audio signals to adisplay apparatus such as a television (TV) or a monitor, and reproducesa broadcast program of the video and audio signals.

Because digital broadcasts have more channels than conventional analogbroadcasts, a user can enjoy more broadcast programs. However, there maybe difficulty in choosing a broadcast program of a digital broadcast.

If a user already knows a channel number of a program the user wants tosee, the user can view the program by simply selecting the channelnumber. However, if a user does not know the channel number of aprogram, the user can search channel by channel using buttons (e.g., upand down keys) of a remote controller or use an electronic program guide(EPG) to search for a program. Even in the case that a user uses theEPG, the user must manipulate the buttons of the remote controller tosearch for a program in the EPG which is also inconvenient to the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Illustrative, non-limiting embodiments of the present invention overcomethe above disadvantages and other disadvantages not described above.Also, the present invention is not required to overcome thedisadvantages described above, and an illustrative, non-limitingembodiment of the present invention may not overcome any of the problemsdescribed above.

The present invention provides a method selecting a program based on avoice input by adjusting a program title to voice recognition and anapparatus thereof.

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a programselection method comprising generating a program list comprising aprogram title, determining whether there is a voice input for a programselection, searching for a desired program title corresponding to thevoice input in the program list if it is determined that there is thevoice input for the program selection, and selecting a programcorresponding to the desired program title based on the searching forthe desired program.

According to another aspect of the invention, the program selectionmethod may further comprise generating a recognition list whichcomprises a recognition source corresponding to the voice input and ismatched with the program list.

According to another aspect of the invention, the recognition source mayconsist of a word or a combination of words included in the programtitle.

According to another aspect of the invention, the generating therecognition list may comprise generating the recognition source using amain title if the desired program title in the program list consists ofthe main title and a subtitle.

According to another aspect of the invention, the searching for thedesired program title may comprise searching for the recognition sourcecorresponding to the voice input in the recognition list and searchingfor the desired program title matched with the recognition source in theprogram list.

According to another aspect of the invention, if there is a plurality ofthe program titles corresponding to the voice input, the searching forthe desired program title may further comprise providing a plurality ofthe program titles.

According to another aspect of the invention, the selecting the programmay comprise determining whether there is another voice input for theprogram selection while information about the plurality of the programtitles is provided and selecting another program title, whichcorresponds to the another voice input, from among the plurality of theprogram titles.

According to another aspect of the invention, the determining whetherthere is the voice input may comprise determining whether a voicerecognition mode has been selected and if the voice recognition mode hasbeen selected, determining whether the voice input in a voicerecognition mode is received.

According to another aspect of the invention, the program title may beincluded in a broadcast signal.

According to another aspect of the invention, the generating of theprogram list may be performed based on the extracting of the at leastone program title.

According to another aspect of the invention, the recognition list maybe matched with the program list such that at least one recognitionsource in the recognition list is matched with at least one programtitle in the program list.

According to another aspect of the invention, the voice input may bereceived from a microphone.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided anbroadcast receiving apparatus comprising a list generating unit whichgenerates a program list comprising at least one program title; and acontrol unit which determines whether there is a voice input for aprogram selection, searches for a desired program title corresponding tothe voice input in the program list, if it is determined that there isthe voice input for the program selection and selects a programcorresponding to the searched program title.

According to another aspect of the invention, the list generating unitmay generate a recognition list which comprises a recognition sourcecorresponding to the voice input and is matched with the program list.

According to another aspect of the invention, the recognition source mayconsist of a word or a combination of words included in the desiredprogram title.

According to another aspect of the invention, the list generating unitmay generate the recognition source using a main title if the desiredprogram title in the program list consists of the main title and asubtitle.

According to another aspect of the invention, the control unit maysearch for the recognition source corresponding to the voice input inthe recognition list and searches for the desired program title, whichis matched with the recognition source in the program list.

According to another aspect of the invention, if there is the pluralityof the program titles corresponding to the voice input, the control unitmay display the plurality of program titles.

According to another aspect of the invention, the control unit maydetermine whether there is another voice input for the program selectionwhile information about the plurality of the program titles is providedand selects another program title, which corresponds to the other voiceinput, from among the plurality of the program titles.

According to another aspect of the invention, the control unit maydetermine that there is the voice input for the program selection if avoice recognition mode has been selected, and if the voice recognitionmode has been selected, the control unit determines whether the voiceinput is received.

According to another aspect of the invention, the broadcast receivingapparatus may further comprise a program extracting unit which extractsthe at least one program title from a broadcast signal.

According to another aspect of the invention, the program extractingunit may extract the at least one program title from broadcast guideinformation including in the broadcast signal.

According to another aspect of the invention, the list generating unitmay receive the at least one program title from the program extractingunit.

According to another aspect of the invention, the control unit may matchthe recognition list with the program list such that the at least onerecognition source in the recognition list is matched with the at leastone program title in the program list.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects and features of the present invention willbe apparent from the following detailed description of exemplaryembodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a broadcast receiving apparatusaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of a method of selecting a program usinga voice input according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a table for separating a main title and a subtitleaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a matching relation between a recognition list and aprogram list according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a display apparatus according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow chart of a program selection method accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Theaspects and features of the present invention and methods for achievingthe aspects and features will be apparent by referring to the exemplaryembodiments to be described in detail with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplaryembodiments disclosed hereinafter, but can be implemented in diverseforms. The matters defined in the description, such as the detailedconstruction and elements, are merely provided to assist those ofordinary skill in the art in a comprehensive understanding of theinvention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a broadcast receiving apparatus,which is a kind of display apparatus according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the broadcastreceiving apparatus includes a broadcast receiving unit 110, ade-multiplexing unit 120, a signal processing unit 130, a signal outputunit 140, a program extracting unit 150, a list generating unit 160, amanipulating unit 170, and a control unit 180.

The broadcast receiving unit 110 receives a broadcasting signal from anexternal source. A digital broadcasting signal is transmitted as an MPEGTS type which includes packets generated by time-division multiplexing avideo signal, an audio signal, and various kinds of data signals.

The de-multiplexing unit 120 separates the received broadcast signal inthe broadcast receiving unit 110 into the video signal, the audiosignal, and the various kinds of data signals and sends the video signaland the audio signal to the signal processing unit 130 and the datasignals to the program extracting unit 150.

The signal processing unit 130 includes an audio decoder 132 whichdecodes the separated audio signal output by the de-multiplexing unit120, an audio processing unit 134 which processes the decoded audiosignal output by the audio decoder 132, an video decoder 136 whichdecodes the separated video signal output by the de-multiplexing unit120, and an video processing unit 138 which processes the decoded videosignal output by the video decoder 136.

The signal output unit 140 includes a speaker 142 which outputs theprocessed audio signal output by the audio processing unit 134 and adisplay unit 144 which displays the processed video signal output by thevideo processing unit 138.

The program extracting unit 150 extracts titles of reproducible programsfrom the separated data signals through the de-multiplexing unit 120.The separated data signals include Program Specific Information (PSI)and additional information data such as program guide information.

The PSI is necessary information for performing basic operations of thebroadcast receiving apparatus. The PSI includes a Program AssociationTable (PAT), a Conditional Access Table (CAT), and a Program ManagementTable (PMT). The additional information includes information to guide aprogram. A Network Information Table (NIT), a Service Description Table(SDT), a Time Date Table (TDT), and an Event Information Table (EIT) areexamples of the additional information.

It is desirable for the program extracting unit 150 to extract thetitles of the reproducible programs from the program guide information.The program extracting unit 150 may generate the EPG information usingthe PSI and the program guide information and may extract the titles ofthe reproducible programs from the EPG information.

The list generating unit 160 generates a program list using theextracted program titles output by the program extracting unit 150. Toapply a voice recognition function, the list generating unit 160generates a recognition list including titles of programs which areobjects of voice recognition. Hereinafter, the programs which areobjects of voice recognition are referred to as ‘recognition sources’.

In generating the recognition list, the list generating unit 160generates the recognition sources by eliminating unnecessary words, suchas special characters and abbreviations, among the program titles in theprogram list and by using a word or combination of words which enablethe program titles to be identified. If the program title comprises asubtitle which changes whenever the program is broadcasted and a maintitle is maintained whenever the program is broadcasted, it is desirableto generate the recognition source using only the main title. The listgenerating unit 160 generates the recognition list which comprises therecognition source generated in this way.

The list generating unit 160 matches a program title in the program listwith a recognition source in the recognition list, and makes the programtitle correspond to the recognition source to be searched. The matchingbetween the program title and the recognition source is not limitedone-by-one. For example, one program title may match a plurality ofrecognition sources and one recognition source may match a plurality ofprogram titles.

The manipulation unit 170 generates a predetermined command according toa user's input or manipulation. It is desirable for the manipulationunit 170 to comprise a voice input unit 172 which is a unit for voiceinput, such as a microphone.

The control unit 180 controls overall operations of the broadcastreceiving apparatus. If there is a program selection command using avoice input, the control unit 180 searches whether the recognitionsource corresponding to the voice input is included in the recognitionlist. If the recognition source corresponding to the voice input isincluded in the recognition list, the control unit 180 searches for aprogram title which matches the recognition source, and controlsfunction blocks in the broadcast receiving apparatus to select andreproduce a program corresponding to the searched program title.

If there is one program title that corresponds to the recognitionsource, the control unit 180 controls the function blocks in thebroadcast receiving apparatus to select and reproduce a programcorresponding to the program title without an additional command.However, if there are a plurality of program titles that correspond tothe recognition source, the control unit 180 controls function blocks inthe broadcast receiving apparatus to generate a list of the plurality ofprogram titles and to display the generated list on the display unit144. If there is an additional voice input for selecting a program titlein the list, the control unit 180 controls the function blocks in thebroadcast receiving apparatus to reproduce the selected program.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of method of selecting a program using avoice input according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

The program extracting unit 150 extracts program titles from a broadcastsignal (S210). In detail, if the broadcast signal is received and a datasignal is separated from the broadcast signal by the de-multiplexingunit 120, the program extracting unit 150 extracts the program titlesfrom broadcast guide information included in the data signal.

The list generating unit 160 generates a program list using theextracted program titles (S215). Generally, a program title, a broadcasttime, information indicating whether this is a rebroadcast, etc., areincluded in the broadcast guide information. However, titles of programswhich are on the air, in the broadcast guide information are used in anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The list generating unit 160 eliminates an unnecessary character(s),which can not indentify a program, such as a special character and anabbreviation (S220). Special characters such as !, ‘, &, /, <, > orabbreviations such as HD, DVS which represent additional character ofthe program are examples of the unnecessary characters. It is desirableto eliminate the unnecessary characters when generating the recognitionlist, since voice recognition of the unnecessary characters isimpossible or a user does not speak the unnecessary character.

The list generating unit 160 determines whether a subtitle is includedin the program title (S230). The subtitle is a program title which isadded whenever the program is broadcasted. Generally, a user does notrecognize the subtitle before the user watches the program.

If a subtitle is included in the program title (S230-Y), the listgenerating unit 160 eliminates the subtitle (S235).

The list generating unit 160 separates the program title or the programmain title by word basis and generates a recognition source (S240), andgenerates a recognition list using the recognition source (S245). It isdesirable for the recognition source to comprise a word or a combinationof words used in the program title or the program main title.

The control unit 180 determines whether there is a voice input for aprogram selection (S250). If there is a voice input through themanipulation unit 170 when the broadcast receiving apparatus is in avoice mode, it is desirable for the control unit 180 to determine thevoice input as the voice input for a program selection.

If it is determined that there is a voice input for a program selection(S250-Y), the control unit 180 searches for a program titlecorresponding to the voice input (S255).

In detail, the control unit 180 determines, using the recognition list,whether there is a recognition source corresponding to the voice input,and searches for a program title matched with the recognition source ifit is determined that there is the recognition source corresponding tothe voice input.

The control unit 180 determines whether there is a plurality of programtitles matched with the recognition source (S260). If there is aplurality of program titles matched with the recognition source(S260-Y), the control unit 180 controls function blocks of the broadcastreceiving apparatus to display the plurality of program titles on thedisplay unit 144 (S265).

A user selects a program title among the plurality of program titlesdisplayed on the display unit 144 using a voice input (S270). Theprogram corresponding to the selected program title is reproduced(S275).

If there is only one program title matched with the recognition source(S260-N), the control unit 180 controls function blocks of the broadcastreceiving apparatus to reproduce the program corresponding to theprogram title.

FIG. 3 illustrates a table for separating a main title and a subtitlewhen the program title consists of a main title and a subtitle accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, in the program title ‘LPGA Tour Golf: GinnTribute’, ‘LPGA Tour Golf’ is a main title and ‘Ginn Tribute’ is asubtitle. In the case where a program title consists of a main title anda subtitle, the list generating unit 160 generates a recognition sourceusing the main title ‘LPGA Tour Golf’.

FIG. 4 illustrates a matching relation between a recognition list and aprogram list according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention. Referring to FIG. 4, the program titles extracted by theprogram extracting unit 150 are ‘LPGA Tour Golf: Ginn Tribute’, ‘WhoseWedding is it Anyway?’, ‘CNN Sports News’, etc. The list generating unit160 generates a program list using the program titles extracted by theprogram extracting unit 150. The list generating unit 160 eliminatesamong the program titles unnecessary characters such as specialcharacters and abbreviations which represents an additional character ofthe program, generates recognition sources such as ‘LPGA’, ‘Tour’,‘Golf’, ‘LPGA Golf’, ‘Wedding’ by separating the program titles, by wordbasis, in which the unnecessary characters are eliminated, and generatesa recognition list. The list generating unit 160 matches recognitionsources in the recognition list with program titles in the program list.

If a user inputs a voice of ‘LPGA’, ‘Tour’, ‘Golf’ or ‘LPGA Golf’, thecontrol unit 180 recognizes the voice input as a selection for theprogram ‘LPGA Tour Golf: Ginn Tribute’ and controls function blocks inthe broadcast receiving apparatus to reproduce the program. If a userinputs a voice ‘Sports’, the control unit 180 searches program titles‘CNN Sports News’, ‘NBC Sports News’, and ‘Sports Sports’ whichcorrespond to the voice ‘Sports’, in the program list and displays theprogram lists on the display unit 144. If a user inputs a voice ‘SportsSports’ among the program titles displayed on the display unit 144, thecontrol unit 180 controls function blocks in the broadcast receivingapparatus to reproduce the program ‘Sports Sports’.

For a user is able to select a program to see by speaking a part or fulltitle of the program, exemplary embodiments of the present inventionprovides a user convenience. Especially, for a user is able to select aprogram to see by speaking only a part of a program title, this methodmay be more convenient than selecting a program using a remotecontroller.

The exemplary embodiments of the present invention show the case where abroadcast program is selected by a voice input. This invention is notlimited to the exemplary embodiments. This invention may be applied tothe case of reproducing contents of external device connected to adisplay apparatus too.

Although an apparatus which is able to receive a broadcast has beendescribed as a display apparatus to which the present invention isapplicable, there is no limitation at the kind of a display apparatus inwhich the present invention is applicable. The present invention may beapplied to a display apparatus such as a TV, a STB, a digital video disc(DVD) player, a DVD recorder, a video cassette recorder (VCR), amultimedia player, a moving image player, a compact disc (CD) player, aCD recording device, a MP3 displayer, a mobile phone, and a personaldigital assistant (PDA), and a selective combination of the displayapparatuses.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a display apparatus according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The display apparatusincludes a list generating unit 510 and a control unit 520.

The list generating unit 510 generates a program list including programtitles. If it is determined that there is a voice input for a programselection, the control unit 520 searches for a program titlecorresponding to the voice input in the program list and selects aprogram corresponding to the searched program title.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow chart of a program selection method accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the list generating unit 510 generates a programlist including program titles (S610). The control unit 520 determineswhether there is a voice input for a program selection (S620). If it isdetermined that there is a voice input for a program selection (S620-Y),the control unit 520 searches for a program title corresponding to thevoice input in the program list (S630), and selects a programcorresponding to the searched program title (S640).

As it is mentioned above, for a program title is adjusted to a voiceinput according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, auser may select the program easily.

Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art willappreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions arepossible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventionas disclosed in the accompanying claims.

1. A program selection method comprising: generating a program listcomprising at least one program title; determining whether there is avoice input for a program selection; searching for a desired programtitle corresponding to the voice input in the program list if it isdetermined that there is the voice input for the program selection; andselecting a program corresponding to the desired program title based onthe searching for the desired program title, wherein if there is aplurality of the program titles corresponding to the voice input, thesearching for the desired program title comprises displaying theplurality of the program titles, and wherein the selecting the programcomprises determining whether there is another voice input for theprogram selection while the plurality of the program titles is displayedand selecting another program title, which corresponds to the othervoice input, from among the plurality of the program titles.
 2. Aprogram selection method comprising: generating a program listcomprising at least one program title; determining whether there is avoice input for a program selection; searching for a desired programtitle corresponding to the voice input in the program list if it isdetermined that there is the voice input for the program selection; andselecting a program corresponding to the desired program title based onthe searching for the desired program title, further comprisinggenerating a recognition list which comprises a recognition sourcecorresponding to the voice input and is matched with the program list,wherein the recognition source comprises a word or a combination ofwords included in the desired program title, and wherein the generatingthe recognition list comprises generating the recognition source usingonly a main title if the desired program title in the program listcomprises the main title and a subtitle.
 3. The program selection methodof claim 2, wherein the searching for the desired program titlecomprises searching the recognition source corresponding to the voiceinput in the recognition list and searching for the desired programtitle, which is matched with the recognition source in the program list.4. The program selection method of claim 1, wherein the determiningwhether there is the voice input comprises determining whether a voicerecognition mode has been selected and if the voice recognition mode hasbeen selected, determining whether the voice input is received.
 5. Theprogram selection method of claim 1, further comprising extracting theat least one program title from a broadcast signal.
 6. The programselection method of claim 5, wherein the extracting the at least oneprogram title comprises extracting the at least one program title frombroadcast guide information included in the broadcast signal.
 7. Theprogram selection method of claim 3, wherein the generating of theprogram list is performed based on the extracting of the at least oneprogram title.
 8. The program selection method of claim 2, wherein therecognition list is matched with the program list such that at least onerecognition source in the recognition list is matched with at least oneprogram title in the program list.
 9. The program selection method ofclaim 1, wherein the voice input is received from a microphone.
 10. Abroadcast receiving apparatus comprising: a list generating unit whichgenerates a program list comprising at least one program title; and acontrol unit which determines whether there is a voice input for aprogram selection, searches in the program list for a desired programtitle corresponding to the voice input for the program selection amongthe at least one program title if it is determined that there is thevoice input for the program selection, and selects a programcorresponding to the desired program title based on the search for thedesired program title, wherein if there is a plurality of the programtitles corresponding to the voice input, the control unit displays theplurality of the program titles, wherein the control unit determineswhether there is another voice input for the program selection while theplurality of the program titles is displayed and selects another programtitle, which corresponds to the other voice input, from among theplurality of the program titles.
 11. A broadcast receiving apparatuscomprising: a list generating unit which generates a program listcomprising at least one program title; and a control unit whichdetermines whether there is a voice input for a program selection,searches in the program list for a desired program title correspondingto the voice input for the program selection among the at least oneprogram title if it is determined that there is the voice input for theprogram selection, and selects a program corresponding to the desiredprogram title based on the search for the desired program title, whereinthe list generating unit generates a recognition list which comprises arecognition source corresponding to the voice input and is matched withthe program list, wherein the recognition source comprises a word or acombination of words included in the desired program title, and whereinthe list generating unit generates the recognition source using only amain title if the desired program title in the program list comprisesthe main title and a subtitle.
 12. The broadcast receiving apparatus ofclaim 11, wherein the control unit searches for the recognition sourcecorresponding to the voice input in the recognition list and searchesfor the desired program title, which is matched with the recognitionsource in the program list.
 13. The broadcast receiving apparatus ofclaim 10, wherein the control unit determines there is the voice inputfor the program selection if a voice recognition mode has been selected,and if the voice recognition mode has been selected, the control unitdetermines whether the voice input is received.
 14. The broadcastreceiving apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a program extractingunit which extracts the at least one program title from a broadcastsignal.
 15. The broadcast receiving apparatus of claim 14, wherein theprogram extracting unit extracts the at least one program title frombroadcast guide information included in the broadcast signal.
 16. Thebroadcast receiving apparatus of claim 14, wherein the list generatingunit receives the at least one program title from the program extractingunit.
 17. The program selection method of claim 11, wherein control unitmatches the recognition list with the program list such that the atleast one recognition source in the recognition list is matched with theat least one program title in the program list.
 18. The broadcastreceiving apparatus of claim 10, wherein the voice input is receivedfrom a microphone.
 19. The program selection method of claim 2, whereinthe generating the recognition list further comprises eliminatingpunctuation marks from the main title.
 20. The program selection methodof claim 2, wherein the generating the recognition list furthercomprises eliminating abbreviations from the main title.
 21. Thebroadcast receiving apparatus of claim 11, wherein the list generatingunit eliminates punctuation marks from the main title when generatingthe recognition source.
 22. The broadcast receiving apparatus of claim15, wherein the list generating unit eliminates abbreviations from themain title when generating the recognition source.